Be Kind, Be Respectful and Vote Quietly

I have written several political posts in the past- some published but most not. After tossing and turning last night for hours in between Bug getting up and my stomach hurting from a yucky stomach virus going around my house- another one came to me early this morning.

I realized that I really would rather hear about someone’s bowel movements than their political views, especially when opinions are said with such hatred and disrespect. The fact is, between Facebook, Twitter and everywhere else I’m sick of hearing people talk about the election.

Where is the decency? I actually had a Facebook friend say he didn’t know how he could be friends with anyone that voted for the person running against his choice. But that’s just it isn’t it- his choice. People have somehow justified saying nasty, rude things to friends and strangers based on feeling passionate about their presidential choice OR they are being obnoxious posting links to articles on their choice.

I’m not going to share who I am voting for here because it’s really no one’s business and if I do it would undoubtedly invite criticism. I don’t agree with a lot of both party’s platforms and to be honest I don’t know everything about every issue being discussed, but neither do most other people. While I was agonizing over who to vote for a few months ago, I decided to take a non-partisan political quiz to see what I really believed- without it being told to me by the TV, social media or even friends and family. I wanted to know, based on what I thought and felt about politics, who I should vote for and the result actually shocked me.

I think I realized around 4am why people get so worked up and passionate. They pick one or two issues, wrap their heart around them and then choose to be personally offended when a friend doesn’t have the exact same issues wrapped up in their heart. I have read real anger, real pain and real disbelief on how others could believe something so different.

The fact is, when I vote it’s not to kill babies or against social justice for my homosexual friends, I think every issue is important and to judge someone for what is important to them is not kind. We all have our passions and interests and even if my top 3 issues are not the same as yours that doesn’t make one of us wrong. I know the election is almost over and I just want to plead with people to win gracefully and also to loose with dignity. Don’t retaliate when other gloat and scream, not matter how justified you may be. Be bigger, be better and love others even through their politics and imperfections during this time. Be kind, be respectful and please, just vote quietly.

Great post and EXACTLY what I was thinking! It has been so divisive and I think people really need to rein in the hateful blathering! I mean I understand we all can share our political beliefs but with RESPECT! Wow. Aptly timed as we had incident this weekend that was incredibly hurtful.

TheBusyNothings

I LOVE talking about politics- just to be clear- (To you and to anyone else is reading this) but do it in person, not online or through social media. That is what I what trying to say- even with everyone’s best and most respectful intentions, people are just not being kind in return and it’s not worth sharing if it offends and causes any drama. I don’t know what happened over the weekend, but I am so sorry. I just don’t understand why people are so ugly and offensive.

Amanda

AMEN!

http://www.facebook.com/sodacreekfilm Andy Nelson

It’s not just politics. Online commenting gets horribly nasty for ANYTHING — even Rotten Tomatoes had to control people’s hostile comments toward each other recently. It’s all so silly. I do everything I can to completely avoid ever posting anything about any personal political views anywhere because you’re right — it just leads to cases where some will instantly dismiss me because of it. And that’s just silly. Of course I have to work hard to not instantly dismiss other people when what they post is just wrong, but I can also acknowledge that no one’s perfect (except for me, of course.)

http://www.facebook.com/sarea.clark Sarea Clark

Great post Heidi! Thank goodness this only happens every 4 years!

TheBusyNothings

Thank GOD! LOL

TheBusyNothings

Yes Ma’am!

TheBusyNothings

That is so true.
People are so much more hateful online than in person. It’s so strange too- perhaps people feel repressed in person NOT saying what they are really thinking that has to come out somewhere. And you are right about another thing. It’s very hard not to judge others when they say things that I don’t agree with as well… HAH! But it’s good to practice tolerance and discipline! ;))

kim

Great post! I went and found a quiz like you mentioned. Very interesting results.

TheBusyNothings

Right?! I was very surprised how I REALLY felt about things!

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About Heidi-

{blogging since 2007} wife to my best friend. crazy boy mom. sassy cat owner. passionate about the church, authentic community and empathy. special needs parent. lover of beauty and the simple every day moments. chronic over-sharer, run-on-sentence speaker and squirrel chaser...
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Heidi Clark

blogging since 2007. wife to my best friend. crazy boy mom. sassy cat owner. passionate about the church, authentic community and empathy. special needs parent. lover of beauty and the simple every day moments. chronic over-sharer, run-on-sentence speaker and squirrel chaser... TheBusyNothings(at)gmail(dot)com

Sherry

Hi, I'm Sherry, and I'm a frequent guest writer for the TheBusyNothings.com. I am passionate about helping people with disabilities learn life skills and am fortunate enough to be able to do it full time! I love doing Wordless Wednesdays, capturing life at the Camp I work at as well as sharing bits of my life. I work a lot and come and post when I can! @sherryaki on Twitter